The tree that is there is way over grown. The tree is supposed to be trimmed to look like a ball at a much lower level. One of the guys that gave the landscaping quote said that he'd cut it way back and it wouldn't hurt it. It's going to be roughly half the size that it currently is and will be trimmed each year to maintain that.
As far as the planning around maintenance goes both wife and I want to keep it simple. We don't mind trimming and mulching once a year and then very little maintenance after that.
